Page 6-Tuesday, August 12, 1980-The Michigan Daily
Signatures
sufficient to put
tax proposals
on state ballot

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LANSING (UPI) - The Board of
State Canvassers ruled yesterday
enough signatures were gathered to
place the rival Tisch tax cut and Smith-
Bullard tax shift plans on the fall ballot,
although legal questions hover over
both proposals.
Before voting on the signatures, the
four-member, bipartisan board for-
mally asked Attorney General Frank
Kelley for an opinion on gadfly lawyer
Zolton Ferency's request that the Tisch
petitions be declared legally invalid. A
meeting on the issue has been set for
Aug. 22.
AND, TISCH hinted he may consider
legal action challenging the legitimacy
of signatures gathered for the Smith-
Bullard plan.
In other action, the board assigned
Smith-Bullard the coveted proposal
"A" designation on the ballot based on
supporters' claims they were first to
file their signatures. The Tisch
proposal will be named proposal "D" if
it makes the ballot.
The Smith-Bullard plan would reduce
property taxes by about 50 per cent
while paving the way for a state income
STUDENT
ACCOU NTS
Your attention is called to the
following rules passed by the
Regents at their meeting on
February 28, 1936: "Students
shall pay all account' due the
University not later than the
last day of classes of each
semester or summer session.
Student loans which are not
paid or renewed are subject
to this regulation; however,
student loans not yet due are
exempt. Any unpaid accounts
at the close of business on
the last day of classes will be
reported to the Cashier of the
University and
"(a) All academic credits
will be withheld, the grades
for the semester or summer
session just completed will
not be released, and no tran-
script of credits will be
issues.
"(b) All students owing
such accounts will not be
allowed to register in any
subsequent semester or
summer session until
payment has been made."

tax increase to maintain funding for
schools.
THE TISCH proposal would slash
local property taxes in half, while
making a compensating increase in
state taxes nearly impossible.
Gov. William Milliken and legislative
leaders - charging Tisch would
devastate state government - devised
their own plan which would slash
property taxes while raising the state
sales tax. That plan - given the letter
"C" - was placed on the ballot through
legislative action.
Petition drives need about 287,000
signatures to qualify.
SMITH-BULLARD backers delivered
about 370,000 and Tisch supporters
more than 400,000.
The board unanimously certified the
Tisch petitions as adequate based on a
review by the secretary of state's
department indicating there is a 99.9
per cent likelihood that enough
signatures had been gathered.
There was considerably more debate
on the Smith-Bullard petitions -
named after Reps. Perry Bullard (D-
Ann Arbor) and Roy Smith (R-
Ypsilanti) - due to a higher error rate
and questions over whether certain
questionable signatures should be coun-
ted.
The board unanimously certified the
petitions as adequate based on a projec-
ted likelihood of 83.6 per cent. The staff
recommended approval without or-
dering a costly second sampling even
though the figure is slightly below the
normal 90 per cent standard.

Young thespians
Members of the Young People's Theater act ina scene in Sunday afternoon's
performance of the comedy "Merlyn" during the Medieval Festival at the
Music School. Characters in the play include Merlyn the Magician, King Ar-
thur, Sir Lancelot, Lady Guenivere, a midget fairy, a fairy godmother, and a
fairy great-great godmother.
State budget direetor
hires PR aidce, to help
polish tax issue image

LANSING (UPI) - State Budget
Director Gerald Miller - despite the
current budget crunch - has hired a
veteran Capitol reporter to polish the
state's image on tax and fiscal issues
with tax-weary voters and skeptical"
bond houses.
Miller said yesterday the move was
prompted, in part, by a feeling the state
needs "a little more Madison Avenue
approach" in dealing with financial
moguls.
PAT MCCARTHY, 55, a state gover-

Teen computer genius

apparently
DAYTON, Ohio (UPI) - James
Dallas Egbert III, the teenage com-
puter genius who was the subject of
nationwide search after he disappeared
from Michigan State University last
year, apparently shot himself in the
head yesterday.
Egbert, 17, was in critical condition in
Grandview Hospital where he under-
went surgery, hospital officials said.
POLICE SAID initial reports in-
dicated the wound was self-inflicted,
but additional tests were to be conduc-
UNISEX
Long and Short Haircuts
by Professionals at
Dascola Stylists
Liberty off State-666-9329
East U. at South U.-662-0354
Arboriand-971-9975
MapleVillage-761-2733

shoots self.
ted today.
The shooting occurred late yesterday
morning at a Dayton downtown apar-
tment complex where Egbert and a
roommate had moved twoweeks ago.
Police recovered a gun in Egbert's
first-floor apartment, but declined to
give any more information on the
shooting.
EGBERT, WHOSE father James D.
Jr. is a Dayton optometrist, was a
student last year at MSU and an avid
player of -Dungeons and Dragons, a
complicated game of hide-and-seek
played at the East Lansing university.
He disappeared Aug. 15, 1979 from the
campus and nation-wide search star-
ted.
Egbert was found Sept. 13 by private
investigator Bill Dear of Dallas, who
said he located the boy in a dingy hotel
room in an undisclosed location. The
boy was returned to Dayton.
The mystery of his whereabouts for
the month has never been solved. -

nment reporter for 11 years, was
named to the $30,693-per-year position
as Miller's executive assistant.
Miller said McCarthy's main duties
will be to create a better public under-
standing of tax systems and credits
available as well as improving
Michigan's image in New York finan-
cial circles where pessimism about the
state has led to lower bond ratings.
While previous budget directors had
public relations aides, the position has
been left vacant since Miller took of-
fice.
"WITH THE ballot proposals and the
state's general economic position it was
desirable to fill the position at' this
time," Miller said.
"There is no higher priority than the
November election . .. What happens
on that is more important than the
presidential race for our state."
Asked if the former Gannett News
Service reporter was hired to boost the
state's image with its voters, Miller
said "there's no question about it, with
dominant factor being the Tisch issue."
STATE OFFICIALS say the proposal
advocated by Shiawassee County Drain
Commissioner Robert Tisch to slash
property taxes in half would devastate
state government.
Miller also said the state does not get
a fair hearing with New York bond
houses because of a perception that its
auto dependent economy is on the
ropes.
He was particularly nettled by Stan-
dard and Poors' recent decision to
lower Michigan's rating one notch - a
move which could make it more costly
to borrow money.
"I felt we got a short shrift," he said.
"We go in on a professional basis to
make the state's case and they didn't
listen to us."

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